After Netflix’s Daredevil was prematurely cut short by the streamer’s cancellation, fans are now rejoicing over the Man Without Fear and the Kingpin of Crime’s respective MCU re-debuts in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, and especially so with the official reveal of Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again. Given the two characters’ appearances and timing, it appears there’s much more in store for that corner of Marvel’s universe.
The rumors still circulating suggest it, and fans can conveniently enjoy a big library of Daredevil’s comics ripe for newcomers. In the entirety of the superhero genre in comics, Daredevil is often regarded as the most consistently well-written character.
The Man Without Fear By Frank Miller & John Romita Jr.
Frank Miller got his start in the comic book industry with Daredevil, and he turned out to be one of his greatest writers. Daredevil’s first season during the MCU had some differences but, all-in-all, the Netflix series did an impeccable job paying homage to Miller and John Romita Jr.’s The Man Without Fear.
Much like Miller’s work on Batman with Year One; The Man Without Fear is an acclaimed classic regarded as Daredevil’s definitive origin story. Miller’s writing here continued Daredevil’s crime-noir reinvention in a smaller-scale, powerful, and intimate arc. On top of setting up the superhero himself, it also introduces key supporting characters like Elektra and Kingpin, making this the ideal start for new fans.
Last Hand By Frank Miller & Klaus Janson
Miller is one of Daredevil’s greatest writers, and he also helped create Elektra. The assassin’s debut came in the writer’s Daredevil run during the ’80s. She wasn’t initially meant to be a mainstay character, but her popularity led to Marvel’s revival of her. Elektra’s first story arc was a rather brief one, with Last Hand being the climax of it in issue #181.
The conflict centers around Elektra and Bullseye engaging in a death match over who gets to be Kingpin’s top hitman. This was where Elektra “dies,” though, is revived later by the Hand for nefarious purposes. The aforementioned Daredevil origin story is her first chronological appearance, but this short arc presents her in her full-fledged assassin persona.
Roulette By Frank Miller & Klaus Janson
Like Kingpin, Bullseye has proven to be the architect of Daredevil’s misery – and his loved ones – on more than one occasion. Miller’s one-off story Roulette takes place sometime in the wake of Elektra’s death, where Daredevil and Bullseye have one of the tensest encounters in the pair’s twisted history with each other.
Murdock visits a hospitalized Bullseye and plays a mad game of Russian Roulette with the sadistic assassin. It’s an essential read for those that want the full scope of their bitter hatred of one another, as well as being another example of how the subject of Matt Murdock’s teetering psyche makes for engrossing storytelling.
Born Again By Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
Perhaps the peak of Miller’s time on Daredevil came in his Born Again arc. On top of being one of the character’s best stories, it was also one of the best comics to influence the Daredevil show – namely season three. Born Again arguably serves as the best comics showcase for Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin’s bitter rivalry.
The latter utterly annihilates Matt Murdock’s life in every possible aspect after Karen Page indirectly sells Daredevil’s identity out of desperation. Over time, readers see Matt becoming darker, more vengeful, and almost going mad with hatred. It’s one of the lowest points he’s been in and heavily mirrors the season three plot.
Last Rites By Ann Nocenti & Lee Weeks
Ann Nocenti is perhaps one of the most underrated Daredevil writers. Still, she’s thankfully getting more retroactive recognition for her extensive work on the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen from the fan base. Following up on Miller’s run – and especially the landmark Born Again – but Nocenti did an admirable job of building on his storylines.
Last Rites is a direct sequel to the aforementioned arc, with the story doing a sort of role reversal of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk’s positions during much of Born Again. With Kingpin’s reputation damaged following that storyline, Daredevil comes back with a vengeance to dismantle the crimelord’s life in what proved to be another cathartic comeback plot.
Guardian Devil By Kevin Smith & Joe Quesada
Though understandably controversial, filmmaker Kevin Smith and artist Joe Quesada’s Guardian Devil is considered another essential read. Fans could continue with the rest of Miller’s run, but this arc is still fitting after reading Born Again.
Matt has gone through many tragedies, especially his loved ones, but Karen’s death at Bullseye’s hand is also one of the worst things to happen to Daredevil. After Elektra’s similar death, this would mark the second love interest to die in Matt’s arms. It’s an important moment as Karen’s fate had one of the deepest emotional and psychological effects on the character.
Yellow By Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
The creative duo behind some of Batman’s best and most influential comics – Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale – picked up the dismantled pieces of Daredevil’s life after Smith’s Guardian Devil. Yellow is a reimagining of the Man Without Fear’s earlier days from creators Stan Lee and Bill Everett’s tenure when the superhero was in his yellow suit.
The story practically functions as a heartbreaking yet uplifting love letter and eulogy to Karen’s life and the pair’s relationship, while showing Matt’s first time in a full-blown Daredevil suit. Given how significant her loss was to Matt even in later comics, Yellow is both a tragic and essential entry to get the full scope of his emotional state.
A Touch Of Typhoid By Ann Nocenti & John Romita Jr.
Writer Ann Nocenti is one of the most underrated and longest-serving writers on Daredevil. Her run came after Miller’s with one of the most complex arcs being A Touch of Typhoid. Even if not at the status of Kingpin or Bullseye, Typhoid Mary is still one of Daredevil’s most notorious villains.
Likewise, she later becomes closely intertwined with Fisk himself. In this story, Fisk sends Mary – who suffers from extreme dissociative identity disorder – to deceive Daredevil into falling in love with her. This way, the Kingpin has the perfect assassin to attack his nemesis from both personas.
Parts Of A Hole By David Mack & Joe Quesada
Now that Hawkeye has recently concluded on Disney+, David Mack’s Parts of a Hole has become a must-read for newcomers like never before. This arc is great to get better insight into both Daredevil and Echo, as it’s been heavily (and unsurprisingly) suggested that Parts of a Hole will influence the upcoming Echo TV series.
Maya Lopez’s father was killed on Kingpin’s order but he raised her as his daughter and assassin. Maya is later fed the lie that Daredevil was responsible for her father’s death, that way Fisk has a highly-trained assassin desperate to kill his mortal enemy. The rumors suggesting Kingpin will serve as Echo’s main antagonist on Disney+, with Daredevil in a supporting role, are becoming more credible.
Daredevil By Brian Bendis & Alex Maleev
In the highest tier of Daredevil’s pantheon-like catalog of comics, Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev’s run on Daredevil is likely in the first or second spot for most fans. Many specific story arcs within this run are fantastic, but it makes the most sense for new fans to read the entire run in order. They are completely sequential and make it an enthralling crime-noir epic.
This Daredevil saga is among the darkest, as well as one of the most cathartic and morally gray. Matt has to deal with an onslaught of disasters ranging from having his identity leaked by the FBI to Kingpin and Bullseye’s resurgence. All these headaches culminate in one of Daredevil’s biggest boiling points since, at least, Born Again.
Daredevil By Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark
What Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark were able to achieve with their Daredevil run is even more impressive, in a way, since they were given the monumental task of following up on Bendis and Maleev’s work. The latter run ends in rather precarious circumstances for the main players involved, making Brubaker’s writing a natural next step for fans who have been eagerly reading along.
It’s a sprawling run with explosive turns of events and crossover appearances of other Marvel characters but, most importantly, it fulfills the ramifications that Bendis’ writing passed down. Brubaker’s and Lark’s run open to a particularly strong start, with The Devil in Cell-Block D serving as a riveting arc with Daredevil having to deal with the rogues he’s put away.
Daredevil By Mark Waid & Chris Samnee
While the character has been predominantly synonymous with dark crime-noir thrillers, Mark Waid and Chris Samnee still put together a compelling run paying homage to the more upbeat days. It’s another run that is best focused in its entirety, as it’s a worthwhile experience amid the mostly-brooding atmosphere Daredevil’s world has.
Matt temporarily moves from Hell’s Kitchen to San Francisco in an overall story arc that lifts Daredevil into a brighter environment. However, Waid’s writing and Samnee’s uplifting art style don’t forget to tackle the grounded themes that keep the spirit of the character true.
Daredevil By Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto
Even today, Daredevil is still one of the best current comic book series in publishing, and that’s thanks to Chip Zdarsky’s excellent writing and Marco Checchetto’s crisp, stylish artwork. It’s still a great run to jump in on fairly early for newer fans, but moments with characters like Typhoid Mary and Kirsten McDuffie that appear in the run would undoubtedly be more hard-hitting with prior knowledge.
However, its accessibility is nonetheless one of its strongest points. Starting Daredevil off with a crisis of identity after accidentally killing a thief is a gripping way to start the run with genuine stakes. From there, the plot explodes into thrilling climaxes while still having something interesting to say about the character himself.
Devil’s Reign By Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto
Chip Zdarsky’s and Marco Checchetto’s overall run with Daredevil feels like prime material to influence Disney+’s Born Again series in terms of tone, as the art is stylish and the writing strikes the right balance of TV-14 grittiness with comic book action. The same can be said for the duo’s Daredevil crossover arc Devil’s Reign.
This series sees the Man Without Fear team up with his fellow Defenders and Avengers to stop Mayor Fisk’s dystopian-like rule over New York. It puts a solid spotlight on the leading hero, but it also tastefully incorporates a colorful cast of supporting heroes and villains from across the Marvel universe. Devil’s Reign takes place in between the events of the creative team’s mainline series run.
